Log-receiving trough having a rotating log-end stop and a bark-removing auger



May 22, 1956 R. R. HOLYCROSS LOG-RECElVING TROUGH HAVING A ROTATINGLOG-END STOP AND A BARK-REMOVING AUGER Filed May 24, 1955 2 Sneets-Sheet1 mm m s S 2. m we 2 m o .T mw n y INVENTOR.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HOLYCROSS REG ALD E- o -YCROQS WWMWW May 22, 1956LOGRECEIVING TROUGH HAVING A ROTATING LOG-END STOP AND A BARKREMOVINGAUGER Filed May 24, 1955 M ME FIRE-I.

ATTOZNEYS United States Patent O 2,746,498 LOG-RECEIVING 'rnouorr HAVINGA ROTATING LgG-END STOP AND A BARK-REMOVING A GER Reginald R. Holycross,Goldenda'le, Wash. Application May 24, 1955, Serial No. 510,689

5 Claims. Cl. 144-408 This invention relates to log-barking, apparatus,and has for its main object the provision of a generally improvedapparatus of this type, so designed as to efficiently bark ation withtheauger, a trough cooperating with the auger to maintain thelog inpredetermined position against one side of the trough, in which positionthe log will be continuously rotated to provide uniform barking thereofover its full length and throughout its entire circumference.

Still another object is to associate with the auger and trough a flaphingedly connected to one of the trough side walls, for swingingmovement into a position in which it is connectable to and is spacedfrom the other side wall, to cooperate with the other side Wall indefining a space within which the log will be confined in the positionin which it is to be rotated.

A further object is to associate with the parts previously mentioned anend stop for the log which will hold the log against movementlongitudinally of the trough, and which will be so designed as,when thelog is held in the previously designated position, tosupplement therotative force exerted on the log by the auger to insure proper turningof the log during the barking action.

Yet another object is toprovide a guide means adapted to simultaneouslyrotate the stop and auger in opposite directions, inacoactiverelationship which will aid measurably in the barking of thelog. A d

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto, and from the annexed drawings in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views andwherein:

Figure 1 is atop plan view'of anapparatus formed ac- 2,746,498 PatentedMay 22, 1956 'is provided a bearing post 26, having adjacent its lowerend a bearing 28, held in place by a cover plate 30.

Over the full distance between bearings 16, 22, the frame is providedwith transversely spaced, relatively low, vertically disposed flanges32, defining between them an open space constituting the open bottom ofa trough to be described in detail hereinafter. Mounted above the openspace is an elongated, horizontally extending auger shaft 34,'journaledin the several bearings 16, 18, 22, 28, and spiralling about said shaftis an auger blade 36 having uniformly spaced, relatively deep, V-shapednotches providing a discontinuous outer edge on the auger blade.

Keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 34 for rotation therewith is apinion 40, in mesh with'a large diameter gear 42 integrally formed witha thickened, large diameter portion 44 having a roughened face. Theroughening of the face of the gear Wheel can be accomplished by coatingthe same with a coarse abrasive, or may be accomplished in any othermanner designed to produce a frictional engagement between the face ofthe gear wheel and the adjacent end of a log L supported upon the auger.

The gear wheel has a center opening, receiving one end of a stub shaft46, having a circumferential shoulder 48 intermediate its ends againstwhich is engaged a bearing 50 carried upon a lateral arm 52 rigidlyformed upon the upstanding post 26. I At the upper end of post .26 thereis provided a bearing 54, aligned coaxially with bearing 56 to receivethe stub shaft, and braces 56 are cording to the presentinvention, aportion of the appara- 't'us being broken away;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1 on anenlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 2, on areduced scale;and

Figure 4 is a transverse section on line 4-4 of Figure 2,;d'rawn.to thesame scaleas Figure 3. i

The reference numeral 10 generally designates a support frame, providedat oneend with a vertically disposed end wall 12, braced in its verticalposition by braces '14.

Mounted on the end wall '12 is a bearing 16, spaced longitudinally ofthe frame 10 and coaxially aligned with a bearing 18 mounted upon asupport 20. A bearing 22 is aligned coaxially with the bearings 16, 18,and is carried by an upstanding support plate 24.

2 At the end of the frame remote from end wall 12 there used toreinforce the post against deviation from its vertical position.

A driven pulley 58 is keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 34 forrotation therewith, and has a plurality of side by side peripheralgrooves receiving drive belts 60, that are trained about a drive pulley62 smaller in diam eter than the driven pulley, and secured to the shaftof a drive motor 64.

The upstanding flanges 32 are integrally formed upon a bottom plate ofthe frame, and projecting upwardly from the. opposite longitudinal edgesof said bottom plate (see Figure 3) are spaced supporting legs 66, 68respec-- tively, these being welded or otherwise fixedly attached attheir upper ends to upwardly diverging side walls 70, 72. The side wallsare of elongated formation as shown in Figure 1, and cooperate with theflanges 32 in forming an open-bottomed, elongated trough in whichthe logL is disposed .while being barked.

Secured to the outer surface of the side wall '70, and spacedlongitudinally of said side wall, are downwardly turned hooks 74. A flap76 extends for the greatest part of the length of the side wall 72, andis hingedly connected to side wall 72 as at 78, for swinging movementbetween the positions thereof shown in Figures 3 and 4 respectively.Carried by the flap 76 are relatively short flexible elements 80, suchas short lengths of rope, the free ends of which are provided with loops82 engageable with the hooks 74 in the manner shown in Figure 4.

The flap 76 cooperates with the side wall 70 in defining therebetween aspace in which the log L will be confined. It will be noted, from Figure4, that the log, when so confined, is spaced laterally of a verticalplane passing through the axis of rotation of the auger, and it willfurther be noted that the axis of rotation of the wheel 44 parallels andis spaced above the center of rotation of the log dur* ing the barkingaction, assuming that the log is of the normal diameter used in aparticular logging operation, such as preparing logs for being broken upinto chips during the manufacture of'paper. The vertical plane mentionedalso passes through the axis of the wheel 44, and the wheel 44 has itsaxis of rotation spaced above the periphery of the auger a distanceapproximately equal to the length of the radius of the wheel 44, asshown in Figure 4.

Due to the particular driving arrangement between the prime mover 64 andthe auger and gear wheel respectively, the auger will be rotated in aclockwise direction, viewing the same as in Figure 4, while the wheelwill be rotated in a counterclockwise direction. The log of course willbe rotated oppositely to the auger, in a counterclockwise direction, andbeing engaged at its endby the roughened face of the wheel 44 adjacentthe margin of said wheel 44, will be rotated also by the wheel. Thewheel thus supplements the rotative action exerted upon the log by theauger, and' assuresthe uniform and continuous turning of the log duringthe barking operation. At the same time, the wheel provides an endstopjholding the log against movement longitudinally of the auger, whichmovement would naturally tend to occur due to the tendency of the augerto feed the log in one direction.

The discontinuous edge ofrthe auger blade bites into the rough bark ofthe log, to insure the turning of the log, and at the same time,continuously breaks away the bark from the log surface, the broken offbark gravitating to the bottom of the trough. It will be understood thatbelow the open bottom of the trough there can be provided a belt typeconveyor'or any other suitable means employed-to carry ofi the fallingpieces of bark.

The device can be permanently maintained at any desired location, or ifdesired, can be transportable, so as to be used in a saw mill, beside amill pond, or at any other location at which the barking operation is tobe performed.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confinedto the specific use or uses thereof described above since it may .beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is theinvention'to be necessarily limited to the specific constructionillustrated and described, since such constructionis only intended to beillustrative of the principles, it being considered that'the inventioncomprehends any minor change in construction that may be permittedwithin the scope of the appended claims. l

What is claimed is:

1. Log-barking apparatus comprising a channeled sup-' port frame; anauger journaled therein to support a log to be barked, said augerincluding a blade having adiscontinuous log-engaging edge forsimultaneously barking and rotating, in a direction opposite to thedirection of the auger, a log extending within said frame; stop meansmounted on the frame for rotation in a direction opposite to that of theauger and having a roughened face frictionally engaging one end of a logto hold such log against movement longitudinally of the auger, such anend of such a log being frictionally engaged at a location effective tosupplement the turning force exerted on such .a logby the auger; andmeans on the frame for driving said auger and stop means.

2. Log-barking apparatus comprising a channeled support frame; an augerjournaled therein to support a log to be barked, said auger including ablade having a discontinuous log-engaging edge for simultaneouslybarking and rotating, in a direction opposite to the direction ofrotation of the anger, at log extending within said frame; a wheelmounted on the frame for rotation in a direction opposite to that of theauger, said wheel having its axis of rotation paralleling that of theauger, the wheel having a roughened face frictionally engaging one endof a log to hold such log against movement longitudinally of the auger,such an end of such a log being frictionally engaged by said face at alocation effective to supplement the turning force exerted on such a logby the auger; and means on the frame for driving said auger and wheel.

- 3. Log-barking apparatus comprising a channeled support frame; ananger journaled therein to support a log continuous log-engaging edgefor simultaneously barking and rotating, in a direction opposite to thedirection of rotation of the auger, a log extending within said frame; awheel substantially greater in diameter than the auger, mounted on theframe for rotation in a direction opposite to that of the auger, saidwheel having its axis of rotation paralleling the axis of rotation ofthe auger and spaced from the periphery of the auger a distanceapproximately equal to the length of the wheel radius, the wheel havinga roughened face frictionally engaging one end of a log at a locationeifective to supplement the turning force exerted on such log by theauger, said face extending as an abutment holding such log againstmovement longitudinally of the auger; and means on the frame for drivingsaid auger and wheel.

4. Log-barking apparatus comprising a support frame formed witha-log-receiving trough including a pair of upwardly diverging sidewalls; an auger journaled in the bottom of the trough to supportwithin'the trough a log to be barked, said auger including a bladehaving a discontinuous log-engaging edge for simultaneously barking androtating, in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of theauger, such a log; a wheel substantially greater in diameter than theauger mounted on the frame at one end of the trough for rotation in adirection opposite to that of the auger,'said wheel having its axis ofrotation paralleling the. axisof rotation of the auger and spaced abovethe periphery of the auger a distance approximately equal to the lengthof the wheel radius, the wheel having a roughened face frictionallyengaging one end of a log to hold such log against movementlongitudinally of the auger, such an end of such a log beingfrictionally engaged by said face at a location adjacent the margin ofthe wheel, whereby said wheel supplements the turning force exerted onsuch a'log by the auger; and means on the frame for driving said augerand wheel.

5. Log-barking apparatus comprising a support frame formed with alog-receiving trough including a pair of upwardly divergent side wallsand a hinged flap on one of the side walls adapted when swung to oneposition to be connected to the other side wall to confine between theflap and other side wall a log to be barked; an auger journaled inthebottom of the trough to support within the trough a log to be barked,said auger including a blade having a discontinuous log-engaging edgefor simultaneously barking and rotating, in a direction opposite to thedirection ofrotation of the auger, such a log; a wheel substantiallygreater in diameter than the auger mounted on the frame at one end ofthe trough for rotation in a direction opposite to that of the auger,said Wheel having its axis of rotation paralleling the axis of rotationof the auger and spaced above the periphery of the auger a distanceapproximately equal to the length of the wheel radius, the wheel havinga roughened face frictionally engaging one end of a log to hold such logagainst movementlongitudinally of the auger, such an end of such a logbeing frictionally engaged by said face at a location adjacent themargin of thewheel, whereby said wheel supplements the turning forceexerted on such a log by the auger; and means on the frame for drivingsaid auger and wheel.

References Citedjin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSharkey Apr. 3, 1934 AAA 4

